Recently, fellow photographer Jim Goldstein posted his 10 Best images for 2008. To top it off, he created a great Blog Project called “Your 10 Best Images of 2008” where he has invited others to do the same. I thought it was a great idea, so here are my top…
Almost everyone knows the enduring photographic portrait that gave a feeling and a face to the Great American Depression. It’s simply titled, “Migrant Mother”, and was an image taken by Dorothea Lange while she was working for the US Government, documenting migrant farm workers. That face now has a name;…
Picture: Merced River and El Capitan seen from the Gates of the Valley in Winter, Yosemite National Park, California Today marks the turn of another year. For me, it’s twice in the last three years where I’ve spent the week between Christmas and New Years sick as a dog. C’est…
Picture: Buffalo grazing in snow frosted meadow near a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. I just want to wish everyone a peaceful and happy holiday season. I think it would be wonderful if we could all wake up to a world that seems as calm and gentle as…
In passing on a bit of pure social trivia, MSNBC reported on the year’s most common web searches as listed by Yahoo & Google. Most common search on Google for 2008: Barack Obama Most common search on Yahoo for 2008: Brittney Spears Says something, doesn’t it?
I love the end of the year season, when we get all the “Year in Pictures” features. The Boston Globe’s BIG PICTURE has posted the first of a three part series. It is an amazing, graphic, and not so easy to look at feature. But it is a powerful display…
Photo: Lupine wildflowers in bloom and sunset light over Pewetole Island, Trinidad State Beach, Humboldt County, California I never knew this place had a name in all the years I lived in Humboldt while attending college. I only found out about the Yurok Indian name while researching captions for my…
My Holiday Newsletter for 2008 went out to my mailing list this week. If you aren’t on my list and would like to receive future newsletters, you can sign up here. If you missed this year’s newsletter, or if it accidentally got filtered into your spam or junk mail folder,…
I’ve been busy building and rebuilding a few new galleries, and a new Home page. You can click on the image below to get a first live look at the new home page, and the links to the new galleries. The biggest change I’ve been meaning to make all year,…
Dateline Dec 1st, 2008; Nikon announces the release of the newest flagship body of their DSLR camera bodies, the D3x. Hitting the streets with 24.4 MP and an approximate retail value of $8,000.00+, you can bet there will be some talk comparing the pros and cons between this model, the…
Photo: Wild Turkey in grass field near Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, California The kids are off school, the wife is off work, and I’m still trying to get work done. Shame on me. I found out yesterday that my best friend’s dad past away this week from a…
Photography plays an extremely important role in how we remember history. Lots of people here in the U.S. are less than thrilled with the performance of our current President, G.W. Bush. The truth is, as economic conditions spiral downwards across the globe, History may not be so kind to Mr….
This has been a terrible year for fires in California. I remember having to put off several shoots for my latest book project for almost a month as smoke lingered so thick across the state. Here in the middle of November, at a time when the “official” end of the…
Picture: Sun peeking below clouds near sunset over Angel Island and the San Francisco Bay, from the Berkeley Hills, California It’s November, right? Only a week or so before Thanksgiving, or so the calendar leads me to believe. But outside is a different story here in the Bay Area. We’re…
It’s a world away from the typical landscape, nature, and travel-type photography, but many consider it the ‘important’ photography. So for that, you might consider that it is at least worth a quick look. More on the ‘quick’ look in a second. But first, The American Photography Book 24 has…
Like something out of National Geographic Channel’s, “Seconds from Disaster” – I feel like the aftermath survivor of the Digital Railroad Train Wreck; you know the scene – walking wounded, smoke, confusion, chaos. In the wake of the Train wreck, I’ve found new shelter by building myself a new image…
Photo: Footsteps leading forward in sand dune at sunrise – at the dawn of a new day, Algodones Dunes Wilderness, Imperial County, California. I know I’ve posted this photo before, but it seems fitting today. You know from reading this blog that I don’t involve myself in political discussions. And…
A good number of companies came racing to the aid of photographers in the wale of the Digital Railroad trainwreck. Like purveyors of private ambulance services, many touted the line “let us help save you”. One company that has surfaced is LicenseStream. The company seems to be in a beta…
Picture: Truncated image file of Zion National Park, Utah, after having been downloaded from the Digital Railroad servers. I’ve been watching and waiting since last week for that last poof of virtual smoke that would signal the final demise of Digital Railroad. That would be the moment when the server…
Picture: Dark gray rain storm clouds at sunset over free open range lands, Wyoming. Here in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, I often explain to our out of state visitors that we really only have two seasons; Wet & Dry. When the rain stops in late spring or early summer,…
I’m not expressing any particular political viewpoint here, but it should be well known that there are certainly times when art & politics collide. The most recent and major arts related issue to go bashing its way down the halls of Congress has been the Orphan Works legislation. (Find out…
Thanks to a recent thread in a newsgroup forum, I found this very useful link about State Laws and Guidelines for photography or videography of voters, voting, and polling places. Please note the disclaimer on the web site saying that the information is not meant to be interpreted as legal…
When was the last time you had a door slammed in your face. For me, it was this afternoon when Digital Railroad suddenly shut it’s doors. This was the short note on the Homepage, simply titled, “Final Goodbye”. I must say that this short, nearly terse and unsympathetic move leaves…
Picture: Kids walking in an outdoor labyrinth, Briones Regional Park, Contra Costa County, California This is the first time in more than 15 years I ever shot anything based on a standard want list photo request. Earlier this summer, a regional magazine had posted a request for various outdoor labyrinths….
